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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. ground — crushed
  3. branch — a division
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. ground — a position
  6. dip — to sink
  7. spell — a short time
  8. net — for catching
  9. rock — to move gently
  10. ground — the earth
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. drill — a practice
  13. drill — army training
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. net — after costs
  17. net — in sport
  18. sharp — clever
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. spell — letters
  22. rock — a stone
  23. drill — the tool
  24. spell — magic

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com